I couldn't believe this. I could freakin' believe this! Of all the people in the universe why does it have to be me? Ok, so I was able to stop Ronan with the help of what is now my crew, awesome. Xandar is safe, cool. Universe is saved, definitely happy about that. What does all that earn me? A crew of misfits that seem to fit with each other, alright that's nice. What does that earn me? Feelings for a certain six-foot-four, green-skinned, scar-ridden, muscled, unable-to-understand-anything-metaphorical Destroyer!

I couldn't even tell you when it started exactly, probably back at the jail when he was holding Gamora against the wall with a knife to her throat. I managed to ignore it for the most part through our little adventure together; but now that we were all living on the Milano, traveling from system to system, doing what we could to make a little money here or there. Now it was definitely becoming a problem.

Never date a subordinate.

That was Yondu's first piece of advice to me when I lost my virginity. It was somewhat funny (and all kinds of embarrassing, mainly because he gave me this lecture in front of the crew in the mess hall) that he'd actually sat me down and gave me all these rules and guidelines to dating and getting laid.

And there were all kinds, let me tell you. Don't date someone taller than you. Don't take somebody with more than four arms. The list went on and on; and a lot of those rules applied to what I was feeling right now. The thing was, none of those brought me any comfort, none of them made me stop thinking about my feelings.

I decided to do what I had done before: ignore it. If you ignore a problem long enough…it eventually goes away.

Yeah…that was going to work out alright.

A month into our adventures and nothing was getting better, the thing was I was starting to see signs that maybe these feelings were mutual. It started off with little things, he would always bring me a cup of coffee made just the way I like. He made it a point to sit next to me almost all the time. He even seemed to go out of his way to defend me when some of our missions got a little hairy. I was hoping this was just from the deep level of comradery we were developing. After all we were kinda the first people he'd began to trust in a very long time. Thing was: he never did things like this for the others.

I decided that maybe it was time to seek some advice. The first person I thought of was Gamora. She was probably the only lady friend I had that hadn't been in my bed…and I respected her for that. She made an amazing member of our little crew and she threw herself head first into being here, she didn't isolate herself or do any of the things I thought a person in her position might.

At the time we happened to be docked on Xandar, fresh from turning in a wanted criminal for a nice little bounty. We were in the cafeteria of the port to sit down for a quick bite to eat before continuing on our way.

"It was nice of you to bring us here," she told me.

"Thanks. I was hoping to get some advice on something."

"Really?" She replied. "What have you come to seek my opinion on?"

With a sigh I thought now or never and asked, "Do you think Drax has a crush on me?"

Without even a moment to think about it she immediately replied, "Yes." Before taking a sip of tea.

Just barely managing to keep my cool I asked, "Are you sure?"

A small smile cracked on her face, "You'd have to be blind, deaf, and an idiot, to not see it. The way he looks at you when you're turned away, his actions around you. He's definitely interested. Why do you ask? Are you not comfortable with that fact?"

"No," I replied with a shake of my head, "I have no problem with guys. I've been known to have a moment with a few."

"Do you not reciprocate with his feelings?"

"Maybe…a little bit."

Her smile grew into what I could only describe as a shit-eating-grin, "Well then, you must have it pretty hard for him. What is the problem?"

"Yondu."

"Yondu? What does he have to do with it?" She paused before making a face, "Oh…oh please don't tell me…"

"What?! No. No! G-God no! It's just, when I turned sixteen I got my first…experience, and he saw it as his duty to impart on me the wisdom of dating. One of the biggest rules was never date someone you work with. Can't exactly say it was a bad rule either. There were a couple Ravagers who came and went on the ship…they mostly left because they fell for someone else on the ship and things didn't work out. I just don't want the same thing to happen with Drax." With a sigh I scrubbed a hand through my hair, "We just can't afford to lose him because of a stupid fling."

"We can't or you can't?"

"Fine. I'll admit there's a lot of reasons why I should…but there's also a lot of reasons why I shouldn't."

She smiled fondly at me. It was getting harder and harder to deny the fact that she was definitely becoming a close confidante. Admittedly she almost felt like a sister to me in many ways…a sister who could twist a guy into a pretzel and shove his own head up his ass, but a sister none-the-less.

"Peter," she reached out and put a hand on top of mine, "we all have our reasons for not wanting to let ourselves fall for someone. The prospect of pain and sorrow is sometimes a daunting thing, but there's all the reasons in the universe for falling for somebody. Companionship, closeness, not feeling alone. Besides, do you really think Drax is the kind of person to, what's the phrase? 'Love 'em 'n leave 'em'?"

The snort of laughter was so great that my drink threatened to spurt out of my nose. After a moment though the smile faded from my face and looking down I did something no captain should ever do: show weakness.

"It's not Drax leaving that I'm afraid of," I finally said after a pause.

"What do you mean?" She inquired.

"I mean; I'm not exactly known for my long-term relationships…or monogamy for that matter."

"Well, maybe it's time to give it a shot. We're not exactly wanted fugitives anymore running from place to place and never being able to stay anywhere."

Hate to admit it, but she made a very good point. Ever since putting Ronan down, things have been rather quiet and mundane. Hell, Yondu hasn't even called and given me crap about swapping the stone. Maybe this is worth giving a shot.

Feeling my smile slowly return I couldn't help the jibe as I asked, "How did you get so smart about relationships?"

She merely returned my smile and replied, "Let's just say I read a lot in my spare time with Ronan."

Laughing we continued our meal as I thought out ways to tell Drax what I wanted…along with a few other fantasies that skipped through my head.